I wonder: What is Liberatory Coaching?

The "liberatory" in liberatory coaching means tending toward liberation, which is freedom from oppression, discrimination, constraints, and/or limiting thoughts and behaviors. Author and educator Paulo Freire discussed the concept of liberatory pedagogy in framing education as "the practice of freedom, the means by which [people] deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world" (Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed). Liberatory coaching brings the practice of freedom into coaching relationships, leveraging tools for building critical consciousness, accessing our many sources of wisdom (somatic, ancestral, etc.), and creatively engaging with ourselves, each other, and the world around us. In working with people of color, I see and hold my coach partners' experiences with systems of oppression as they play out in their day-to-day lives as well as the immense possibility for transformation and freedom inherent within them. My coaching approach and my work more broadly centers the belief that liberation and radical freedom at the individual and collective levels is both necessary and possible, right now.

*Note: Queer Gender Non-Conforming (GNC) Afro-Indigenous artivist, facilitator, and healer ChE also uses the term "liberatory coaching." While this term initially arose for me as I was launching my practice in 2019, I found deep resonance in ChE's work and credit them for their work on this concept and creating beautiful offerings for creative radicals of color. Check out their work here!